The Magic Mirror
by blue artemis
Summary: What is the real use for the Mirror of Erised?


Once upon a time, there was a magical mirror deep in the dungeons of a damaged castle. It languished there, having been misused and misunderstood for so many years by the prior denizens of the castle.

I show not your face, but your heart's desire. The inscription told the truth, but it was reversed, as was the magic in the mirror. People had forgotten why such a powerful object would be protected in that way, but its creators had their reasons.

Just as the castle it lived in, the mirror had picked up some, well, humanity, or enough magic to approximate a soul. It knew its true purpose would be discovered soon. Had it had bones, the feeling would have gone that deep.

The mirror could sense the repairs going on above it, and it hoped that someone with enough vision would find it soon so it could do what it was created to do.

"Let's go down here, Luna," said Harry, energetically stomping his way down to the semi-collapsed dungeons.

Luna smiled. It was just like Harry to find the most dangerous thing to do, and want to attack it without much thought. "Sure, Harry. What made you want to come down here?"

"Oh, well, um, Daphne Greengrass said she lost her wand down here. They aren't letting the Slytherins get new ones right now, but if I find hers, then she can have it, right?" Harry ducked his head and looked at Luna through his fringe.

"That's a good reason, Harry. We just need to make sure we shore up the walls so we don't have problems with falling debris," she said, waving her wand at the walls. She grinned to herself at the look of relief on Harry's face. Luna realized he had spent quite a bit of time talking to some of the Slytherins helping rebuild the school, approaching them when no one else would, once again leading the charge. She found she approved, whether that meant anything or not.

Harry followed her example, casting the charms that Professor Flitwick and some of the other witches and wizards who specialized in magical stone work had shown them. "Thanks, Luna."

"For what?" Luna's guileless face showed her surprise.

"You always believe in me. You aren't telling me that I should or shouldn't talk to the Slytherins," he said, hunching his shoulders slightly.

"Oh, Harry. I've always believed you are a good person. You're just showing that it doesn't just extend to your friends. Kind of like when Draco and Headmaster Snape did everything they could so no one would hurt me when I was trapped at the Manor. It was nice to be protected and fed, even if I had to pretend otherwise," she responded.

Harry's eyes went wide at what Luna had revealed. Then he nodded resolutely and kept shoring up the walls as he led her down deeper into the dungeons.

They came to a chamber that sparkled with magic. They looked at each other and cast all the revealing spells they could think of. None of them detected any dark magic.

They entered the room, finding all sorts of things. "I wonder if this was some sort of attachment to the Room of Requirement, Luna. Some of this stuff was there, I remember it." Harry looked around in awe.

"It makes sense that the castle would protect its own. I bet there is a map to find the Headmaster here!"

"Why would you say that? You don't believe he's dead?"

"There's no portrait, the elves still talk about the Headmaster, not the Headmistress, and no one found his body, not even the Malfoys." Luna smiled wryly.

"Luna, do you still talk to Draco?"

"Yes."

"Why?" Harry was truly thrown by the revelation.

"Mostly because no one else does, and I know how it feels to not have friends. And as I said, he and the Headmaster did make sure I wasn't too hurt in the manor. Draco would feed me and take me to his room, so that the others wouldn't use me as a toy. The Headmaster had said something to Riddle about me being a pureblood and good practice, or something equally ridiculous. Hermione got more damage than I did in Malfoy Manor. And I was there for months!" The wonder in Luna's wide eyes shone through.

"You seem to think quite a bit of Snape," was all Harry could think to say.

"He protected all of us the best way he could. He was so very brave. And I hope we can find him soon, before the castle can't protect him anymore." Tears welled up in her eyes, so she turned back to the piles of things, and started to sort mechanically.

Harry realized he had touched on a sore subject, so he also went back to sorting through things. He had a large pile of things that might be useful, books, objects, some things he had no idea about, but called to him, and then, "Hey, here's a broken trunk full of wands. I think this one is Dennis Creevey's!"

"Maybe the magic in the room attracted them. I bet Daphne's is in there, too!" Luna clapped happily.

"Help me shrink this stuff, and I will carry it up. Let's go back now. It's almost time for lunch."

She cast all the requisite spells, then looked around. "No, Harry. I think I will stay here and catalog this stuff. I need to be down here for a while longer."

Harry looked at her, started to argue, then changed his mind. "Kreacher!"

The wizened old elf popped into the room almost before the last syllable of his name.

"Master called?"

"Kreacher, is there an elf available who could help Luna down here for a while? I don't want to leave her alone. Oh, and bring her something to eat. I'm going to go up and eat with everyone else."

Luna smiled. Harry sounded like a proper heir to an old family. He wasn't rude to the elf, but he made all his decisions decisively and stated them directly.

"Yes, Master Harry. Tildy will come down and help Moon Missy. And she will bring a good lunch."

"Thanks, Kreacher." Harry smiled as the old elf snapped his fingers to do as he had said. He turned to Luna. "I'm going to go back up, see if these wands belong to anyone or if anyone can use some of this stuff. After lunch, I'll come back down and help you some more."

"OK, Harry. That sounds good." Luna walked him to the door, then slipped back into the room to keep working. She ate the lunch that Tildy brought, and they conversed lightly as they kept working to sort out the room.

"I didn't know you were the Headmaster's personal elf, Tildy," she said while bent over an old rune puzzle.

"Tildy was born in the castle the first year the Headmaster was a teacher. I's was sickly and he mades me potions. I gots better, and I's been his elf ever since," Tildy proclaimed proudly.

"Is he still alive?" Luna asked.

"Moon Missy should knows. Listens to your heart, silly witch."

Luna laughed delightedly. Tildy certainly sounded like she had spent years with Snape. She returned to her work, moving toward something she couldn't name. She cleared a path down the middle of the room. Suddenly, she was drawn to a corner, where something tall had a dark cloak draped over it.

Luna reached up and pulled off the dark cloak. Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi, she read. "Oh! Mum told me about this."

The mirror started to shimmer, showing Luna surrounded by her friends, those she had drawn on her ceiling.

Luna shook her head, then squared her shoulders and demanded, "I desire to see where the castle has hidden Severus Snape."

The mirror swirled with what Luna whimsically wanted to categorize as delight. When the swirling ended, a passageway was shown in the mirror. Luna giggled and turned to Tildy. "I'm going to go rescue my prince now!"

"Goods. He bes waiting."

Just as Luna stepped into the mirror, Harry walked back into the room with Hermione. "Luna, no!" he cried as she disappeared.

"She's being fine, Mister Harry," said Tildy. "She's just doings what she musts."

"How did she get the mirror to turn into a passage? Dumbledore just said it showed what a person desired," Harry's brow was furrowed.

Hermione thought a bit. "Harry, didn't you say it showed you yourself with the Philosopher's Stone in your pocket?"

Harry nodded, not following.

"How in the world would you have desired that? You must have been wanting to find a way to keep it from Volde-Riddle."

"Volde-Riddle?"

"Don't be an idiot, Harry." Hermione smacked him on his left shoulder.

"You're right. She must have desired to get somewhere," he said.

"Maybe she can find Snape for us!" Hermione started to pace excitedly. "Let's go get Madam Pomfrey and some healing potions!

Harry knew better than to get between Hermione and one of her ideas, so he let himself be dragged along.  
****

Luna ambled along the path, looking at all the wonders she passed as carefully as she could while still moving forward. There were dirigible pl-Oh I didn't know there were dirigible peaches! I bet they are good.

She twirled around a bit, just to make sure she got a good look in every direction. Then she skipped for a bit, because skipping was fun.

Shortly she reached a cave. "This is just a bit cliché, don't you think?" Luna addressed the clouds.

Something in the air seemed to be amused. She checked the shimmering magic that covered the entrance to the cave. "Ooh, Wrackspurts! Good thing I finally learned what to do about a Wrackspurt infestation." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pile of beige colored powder. She blew it into the cloud of Wrackspurts. They dispersed in a hurry. "Who knew powdered ginger worked so well?"

"Which one of the bloody Weasleys did you powder?" the unmistakable voice of Severus Snape came from further inside the cave.

Luna giggled. "None of them, Headmaster. I thought about powdering Percy, but then I thought he would just make everything sour. This was just a powdered ginger root."

"Pity." Severus looked to be in good health, other than being trapped in a cave.

"You look healthy to me, Headmaster. Why didn't you leave?"

Severus walked up to Luna and smiling, bent down to give her a hug. "Because I didn't have any ginger, dearest."

"Oh, Severus! I was so afraid you weren't going to remember," she started crying.

"You kept me sane, love." Severus sat down, drawing her down onto his lap. "I was afraid you'd think I took advantage."

"You can't take advantage of something you were offered, Severus," Luna declared simply.

They sat quietly together, just enjoying the closeness for a few minutes. Severus eased Luna off his lap with a sigh. "Sadly, we need to return."

"Harry is flirting with Daphne," she responded.

"What happened to Miss Weasley?"

"He found out she was working out her frustrations that year he was gone with Seamus. He might have just gone along with it, but turns out that she's pregnant," was the unexpected reply.

"Molly must be having kneazles," he said, putting his arm around her shoulders as they strolled back along the path to the mirror.

"No one knows. She lost her temper, then dragged the entire family as well as Seamus back to the Burrow. No one has seen them since. There have been a few letters, though."

Severus's eyebrows rose into his hairline. Then he shrugged, and walked quietly hand in hand with Luna for the few minutes it took to get back to the room in the castle.

As they exited the mirror, they found Harry, Hermione, Madam Pomfrey and a phalanx of elves waiting for them in the room.

"Headmaster!" came the chorus.

"As you were."

"Bu-"

"Wha-"

"Hows-"

"Quiet!" The softly spoken command stopped everyone's words.

Hermione looked at Severus's and Luna's entwined hands and looked at them questioningly.

Severus looked down and smiled. "The Dark Lord sought to reward me with a Pureblood wife. Luna offered herself. It was why she was kidnapped and taken to Malfoy Manor. She was being kept separate from the rabble for me. She helped keep Draco safe, and to keep me sane, that horror of a year." Then he turned. "How did you figure out what to do with the mirror?"

"Mum."

"Selene was always an extraordinary witch."

To the consternation of all, no more of their story was told. But they did live happily, if snarkily, ever after.


End file.
